The Atlanta Braves won yet another extra-inning game with a 5-4 win in 10 innings against the Pittsburgh Pirates Tuesday night. Here are three observations from the game:
In the ninth inning, it was Freddie Freeman who nearly played the game's hero. The Braves first baseman belted a shot to deep right-center off Pirates closer Jason Grilli, one that brought the Turner Field crowd to its feet. And it would have handed Atlanta its game-winning hit had Pittsburgh's All-Star center fielder Andrew McCutchen not flown in to snag the ball at the wall for an impressive out.
The catch sent the game to the Braves' eighth extra-inning affair of the campaign.
Someone should have warned the Pirates, though, that the hometown team keeps finding ways to come through in such situations — the Braves (36-22) feature the second-most extra-inning wins (6) in baseball, one behind the Arizona Diamondbacks.
So, in the very next inning, following a walk and a hit-by-pitch, it was Simmons, the Braves' young shortstop and leadoff hitter, who strode to the plate with the game on the line. He boasted a .205 batting average with runners on base entering Tuesday's game, but he carried a 2 for 4 night to the plate against reliever Mark Melancon (0.90 ERA).
Then, he put on his cape.
As game-winning doubles go, it was a strange sight: the Pirates outfielders appeared to stop chasing the ball as it sailed toward the wall (despite similar location to Freeman's near-homer 15 minutes prior), the Braves were delayed in pouring out of the dugout in celebration, the fans' reaction was surprisingly mundane. It was just ... odd. Eventually, though, the gravity of Simmons' accomplishment set in — or so it seemed. The chase was on soon enough.
"I was just trying to make sure I made good contact," he said. "I made the adjustment to go the other way and fortunately I did it."
Simmons said it was the first game-winning hit of his career at any level, and certainly in the majors.
Simmons is hitting at a.356 clip during his current 10-game winning streak, proving himself more than capable of handling Atlanta's No. 1 spot in the lineup. He's playing well, even putting a string of defensive lapses last week behind him.
His on-field celebration ended with 6-foot-5 teammate Jason Heyward carrying him off the field like a bale of hay — another unique sight, but a deserving exit for the 23-year-old.
"It was weird seeing everybody run and chase me down was kind of an awkward feeling. I didn't know what to do," he said. "They are big guys. I made sure I protected myself."
Before applauding the Braves' center fielder, let's get this out of the way: if notching four hits over the span of 16 at-bats qualifies for a resurgence, then B.J. Upton has staged multiple resurgences in his short time in Atlanta. That's not a resurgence. That's stringing together a couple good games, which is exactly what Upton is being paid $13 million this season to do with far more regularity.
But you have to hand it to the 28-year-old free agent pickup after he hit his second home run in four June games: he still has it in him.
Upton logged just one hit Tuesday night against the Pirates, but it was an important one. His two-run home run not only plated Dan Uggla, but it tied the game and preserved starter Mike Minor's 7-2 record.
Including his game-winning single against the Nationals on June 1, a 10th-inning confidence boost for a struggling bat if there ever was one, Upton is delivering when it matters. Tuesday night's win gives him at least one hit in three of his last four games.
"One is better than none," he said. "
As Braves Radio Network reporter Kevin McAlpin pointed out following Upton's sixth-inning blast, Upton has already surpassed his May totals in home runs (2) and RBI (4) in just 16 June at-bats. That's more of a reflection of how disappointing Upton's numbers were last month — both his and his brother's numbers, for that matter — than it is a miraculous change of fortunes. After all, he has just as many hits as strikeouts in June.
However, he and hitting coach Greg Walker have been working diligently on his swing, even sitting him out last month to focus on the tweaks, and perhaps this is the positive result the organization was expecting.
(Side note: All three of the Braves' infamous struggling players (B.J. Upton, Jason Heyward, Dan Uggla) finished a combined 5 for 12 at the plate Tuesday night. Collectively, they are hitting .263 with three home runs and seven walks this month. Resurgences all around.)
Minor is learning to live with the fact that he's going to allow his share of home runs — his high fly-ball rate dictates as much. On Tuesday, he gave up home runs Nos. 8 and 9 to Gaby Sanchez and Vanderbilt teammate Pedro Alvarez.
Overall, he's allowing 1.11 home runs per nine innings, which would leave him tied for 70th-best among pitchers with at least 50 innings pitched this season. That's certainly not the typical road map to pitching success. When compared to aces across MLB's landscape — Adam Wainwright (0.2 HR/9), Matt Harvey (0.43), Felix Hernandez (0.54), Clayton Kershaw (0.41) and Justin Verlander (0.62) — Minor does not come close.
Perhaps it isn't fair to compare Minor to such MLB stars (yet) ... or, perhaps he just goes about his business differently.
Minor struggles to induce ground balls — he exuded visible excitement for the grounders he did induce against the Pirates — but he still peppers the strike zone.
Though his slider has not served him well to date, his changeup is a plus-pitch and his fastball has proven to be one of the premier heaters around. According to Fangraphs' pitch values, Minor's fastball has saved the Braves 2.20 runs per 100 fastballs this season — MLB's best rate.
Perhaps it's this fact that has helped spur the young lefty's in-progress transformation into ace material over his first four seasons in the big leagues. Here's a look at his fastball's year-by-year development from one of the league's worst to one of its very best, in terms of runs saved per 100 pitches:
2010: -1.56
2011: -0.45
2012: 0.57
2013: 2.20
Minor finished his outing against the Pirates with a no decision following six innings of work, allowing four hits and four runs (two earned). He also struck out six batters while walking none.
Just another night in what's shaping up to be an All-Star-caliber season.
